Collegestuck
by esmeeeeme
Summary: "Rose, romantic comedies suck," Dave remembered saying, mouth full of sushi. "They are the worst kind of movies and books, it is just the literal worst." "I hate to break it to you, my dear brother, but judging how much you have a crush on John, you are living in one," Rose said. OR the humanstuck college JohnDave AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: the humanstuck collegestuck AU you never thought you wanted.**

 **And now, the disclaimer: I don't own Homestuck. I'm just a fangirl writing fanfiction.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Dave Strider was very nervous.

 _First day to determine the rest of my adult life._

Yeah, no pressure.

He glanced into his backpack, making sure he had everything he needed.

Gum, check. Magazines, check. Laptop and headphones? Check. Tablet in case? Check. Paper? Check. Passport? Check. Chips? Check.

Once the plane touched down, he was going to be in the first day to determine the rest of his adult life.

Okay, well not exactly his first day. He still had three weeks in advance to get ready. Because even to Dave's shock, he was going to college.

He still had to move into his apartment, thankful for the weird arrangements Dirk did to have moved his boxes into this apartment. Move into his dorm, get to know the campus some more. Adjust to the climate, hopefully much more cooler than Texas. A whopping 96 degrees outside and it was barely 12 in the afternoon.

Holy shit, he was going to college.

His leg was jumpy as he sat down on the metal benches of the airport. His duffel was small enough to carry with him.

"Rose is gonna be there."

His half sister, Rose, was also going to be attending the same university. In fact, she recommended that college to him. Good photography majors, she told him. And thus, he did his research.

She was going to be a major in psychology. Which wasn't surprising because ever since he could remember, she would always be psycho-analyzing him in everything. Even via text messages, he could still tell.

At least she'd be putting it to good use.

"I know."

"She'll watch out for me."

"I know she will." Dirk continued driving.

"Dirk, I'm scared!" Dave blurted out.

"I know."

"What if I fuck up?"

"You're not going to fuck up."

"How do you know?"

Dave knew about this moment coming since he was a kid. All those times that they asked him what he wanted to be when he was older, his answers changing from astronaut to rapper, to DJ to photographer to back to DJ and back to photography.

And all those times they made them look up colleges on the internet at school for an assignment. They were made to motivate him to get ready to prepare for the real world and entering college. Senior year, he decided to settle on photography. He loved it enough and who knows what opportunities it could give him.

And there he was, almost a summer after graduating and spending it in Texas, waiting in the airport to go to college.

And instead of feeling ready and confident like he thought he would be when this day came, he was scared and mentally going over all the choices he has made in life to lead to this fateful day.

"Listen, I know you're scared," Dirk began calmly.

"Really scared," Dave said.

Dave was afraid he would start crying.

"I was scared too when I went to college. But...I believe in you."

Over on the intercom, he could hear the final call for the plane to board.

Dave wondered if it was too late to jump back into his brother's car.

 _No, you are Dave Strider. You are ready for this and been ready for this since freshman year._

Lie. Obviously a lie. Hell, he wasn't even ready to take _biology_ in freshman year.

He wasn't ready for any of this. He wasn't ready to go to college. He made his choices carefully when he got those acceptance letters but this was too much. "Be careful, stay safe and have fun. I know it's gonna be hard, but at least try and make it memorable. I believe in you."

Dave could feel himself choking up. "It's too early for emotions, Dirk," his voice cracking.

"Give me a hug you dork."

Dave did. And while giving his brother the most heartfelt hug, he had a sudden realization.

 _This is the last time I'll get to hug my brother for a while._

So, he didn't feel bad about crying.

"C'mon man, you're gonna make me cry."

"I'm already crying!"

Dirk smiled and wiped Dave's face, the same way he did when Dave was little. "You got this, sport. Go."

"Okay. I will."

Dave grabbed his things and began heading over to the gates.

Not before Dirk grabbed him and playfully rubbed his head.

"Dude!" Dave exclaimed, letting out a laugh.

"I don't want to see you cry. Okay, _now_ go. Don't miss your flight."

"I won't."

Dave smiled and went through the airport gates.

As they took his ticket, he kept self-reassuring himself.

 _Alright, you're doing good so far. No jumping back into Dirk's car._

He was actually feeling less scared.

 _Okay, that's bullshit. But y'know what? You got this. You're gonna meet new people, and that's always a good thing. Right? Right. You're gonna meet up with Rose. That's good, she's cool. You're cool. Once you get there, Rose's gonna pick you up and then you'll settle in, go shopping for supplies…._

At ease with his mental planning going on, he felt himself let his tensity go away slowly. He had a plan. That was good.

The way the university he was going to be soon attending worked in their housing system was weird. The apartments were on campus, no dorms. But they functioned like dorms, but you had to live on campus in the apartments if you were a student.

Dave was confused enough, but all he knew is that his things were waiting for him in his new apartment that he was going to be sharing with a roommate.

Huh. A roommate.

He wondered who it would be. Obviously a guy.

Dave was restless for a bit on the plane.

It wasn't because of the passengers. The plant wasn't full, miraculously. No annoying kid was kicking the back of his seat. No one was sitting next to him.

He didn't have a fear of heights, living near the top floor of an apartment building in a busy city kinda got rid of that.

Even that, he still felt _weirded out._ He knew plans, he's ridden them before, he knew how they worked. He's been on the internet at night and has ended up on the wikipedia article for plane engines at 2 AM sometimes. He was aware of planes.

But it wasn't that. He was _still_ weirded out. What was the reason…..

Then it hit him.

The reason why he was so weirded out is because of _his_ reason of being on a plane.

He was going to college.

Wow.

 _College._

That's why the flight felt so weird. It wasn't a vacation. It was a one way trip to go to college and stay there.

He felt like it was just yesterday when he got his acceptance letter, running into the living room, yelling to Dirk that he was in. He remembered hugging his brother, smiling and dashing off to call Rose to tell her he was in. And calling Roxy. And Jake at Dirk's insistence. He called some of his cousins that he was close with.

He was happy. Really happy.

That was last May.

It was August.

How did that past happy Dave who ready and excited to go to college turn into the utterly scared present day Dave?

 _"Make the most of it. It's gonna be hard but at least try to make it memorable."_

Yeah.

He was going to follow Dirk's advice. Dirk always gave good advice.

" _Don't panic. It's all going to be fine."_

It was going to be a while till he touched down.

But he might as well take a nap to avoid jet lag.

It was a gift. He could take a nap just about anywhere. Give him a place and he'll take a nap. Sitting, standing, laying down, against the wall, anywhere. He mastered the skill during long lectures from his 9th grade teacher in geometry. No one noticed because of his shades, but he pulled it off pretty well.

So, using the wall as a pillow, Dave slept for the rest of the flight.

* * *

 **A/N: Reboot. Decided to redo this fic since I'm now a senior and I can actually write it from an incoming college student perspective. But yes, thank you for reading! Reviews are welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

Taking a nap was the worst idea because normally, Dave woke up to not knowing what day it was, what was going on and forgetting that he was on a plane.

Which is exactly what happened.

As he fixed his shades and hair and glanced around to his surroundings, he realized he wasn't at home.

So the turbulence was a huge scare.

Dave nearly fell off his seat, quickly buckling his seatbelt. He grabbed his bag for dear life, hoping it wouldn't fall. No one was sitting near him, thankfully. So was saved from that embarrassment.

Over on the intercom, the pilot announced that they would be arriving in California in half an hour.

 _Well, that was a long nap._

Dave saw no point in sleeping again so he went over all the things he had to do once the plane touched down. He had to call his sister, for one. Figure out where his apartment was. Settle in. Get to know the campus and city. And he had to go supply shopping, because Striders were not procrastinators, they just chose to do things when the time called for it.

And meet his roommate.

He knew _nothing_ of his roommate. Scumbag university, such a good job they did letting students know who they were going to be living with.

What if he was a neat freak? What if he was a scumbag? Guess he had to find out.

The plane touched down in California.

With a deep breath, Dave got off.

The airport was busy, as always. Dave didn't need to go to baggage claim, looking for his sister. He turned on his phone and texted Dirk that he's in California.

"Rose Lalonde, sister of mine."

Dave smiled and hugged his sister.

She'd grown taller, since he saw her last Christmas. Her hair was a little bit longer. And damn, she truly was the spitting image of Roxy. She wore a white and lilac sundress, showing to be already comfortable with the weather.

"You look fancy."

"Thank you. I see you arrived here safe."

"Took a long nap. Felt good."

"Let's go."

Inside Rose's car, the radio played on a local station.

"So how's mom?" Dave asked.

"Do I have to reply?"

His mom….had drinking issues. Well, it wasn't as bad as they used to be back in the past. When she wasn't drinking, she was a top notch computer technician, working from home. She was also a big deal in the wine industry, famous critic and taster, known for her collections of vintage wine. But she was a good person, despite her drinking problems.

"Same?" Dave asked.

"Better, actually. Remember Calliope?"

"Yeah." Calliope was an old family friend. She made a living in writing fantasy novels, ones she often based off her own dreams.

"She moved in."

"Thank god."

That was good. A relief. Calliope was a positive influence on his Mom. But it was also good for Calliope. She had a dickwad of a brother that treated her awfully. At least she wasn't getting hurt anymore, not while mom was around.

"Very."

"Did you get your dorm yet?" Dave asked.

"Yeah. Already moved in," Rose replied.

"Dirk says hi."

"I miss him."

"Same here."

"It's gonna take a while to get used to it."

"There were plenty of colleges near Houston, Dave. Why?"

"I felt like I needed to do something with my life."

He had a hate/love relationship with Texas. He loved it, the diversity, the vastness, the hospitality he grew up with, the idea of it. But at the same time, he hated it. The weather, the hypocrites he'd run into sometimes, the fact that when he drove 45 minutes he would still be in Texas.

Texas was really fucking huge.

Texas was great, but Dave needed a break. He needed to explore the world. Wanderlust caught him good. The only times he travelled were to New York to visit his mom and Rose. Dave needed a change of scene, a change in his life.

So California was his top choice.

As they went to the housing office to pick up his key and paperwork, Dave could feel everything.

There was a very energetic and chatty receptionist, with white framed glasses, blue eyes and short hair.

"Hi! My name is Aranea, how can I help you?"

"I'm picking up a key under the name Dave Strider."

"Can you please show me your ID?"

Dave pulled out his wallet and handed her his driver's license.

"Oh yes! Dave Strider! Your apartment is 214 B."

She handed Dave a key and his ID.

"Thank you."

"No problem!"

Rose led Dave around the campus.

It was….very green. A lot of open field, a lot of trees. Some tables were set up, probably for the incoming freshmen to offer for clubs. Rose led Dave around and show him where the library was and finally, the boys dormitories.

"These are the boys dormitories. I'll meet up with you later, okay?"

"Text me."

"I will."

Dave Strider unlocked the door to his new home.

Save for the furniture, the living room was empty. A small couch and a TV were there, a light cream colored carpet looking like it was recently vacuumed.

The faint scents of Pinol and Clorox traced his nose as he went into the tiny kitchen. A small refrigerator and a stove were next to the sink, looking absolutely spotless. Given, since apparently no one had been living in the apartment for an entire summer.

It was the complete opposite of how his kitchen looked like in Houston. It was messy, full of shitty swords and puppets. And the occasional apple juice bottle finding it's way out of the refrigerator. [But really, it was Dave being in need for something to drink in the middle of the night and drinking the juice directly out of the bottle, forgetting to put it back and effectively tripping over a pile of smuppets.]

But this one, it lacked everything Dave normally found in his home.

He checked the coat closet and found a few hangers already in there, a small vacuum, a broom, a mop and a dustpan inside it already. They were prepared, which was good.

The first room had the door open. Dave entered.

Assuming by all the boxes with his name on it on the floor, it was his new room.

It wasn't as large as his old room, but it would work. The pile of boxes with labels he and his brother wrote on with a sharpie while packing were in a neat pile. Clothes, Photography, his plastic plug in fan [he really wasn't sure how the weather in California was like. Dave was from Texas. There was no such thing as trust in the weather forecast.] Desktop, bedding, DJ Equipment, Books and CDs and a small bookshelf for said Books, and some of his other stuff.

So this was his new room.

There was a twin sized bed against the wall, a bedside table next to it. The room had a window, which was closed and had a white curtain. On the opposite side, there was a dresser and a mirror, looking clean and no traces of their previous owners. There was a desk in a corner as well, his black desk chair already in place.

 _Not bad._

Two large boxes were full of his clothes and shoes. His wardrobe really consisted of t-shirts with obscure rap groups, jeans and Vans. Hoodies, obviously, a jacket or two. Nothing special. Basically what he wore during high school.

But aside from that, he had a bunch of slacks, button up shirts, ties and fitted sweaters, for special occasions. Dirk insisted on packing them. "You might not know when you'll need them. Job interview, hot date," he told him, elbowing Dave's side at the last part.

Dave rolled his eyes and continued packing. "The only hot date I'll be having is me and the turntables," he scoffed sarcastically.

"Atta boy. Striders will be Striders."

Dave unpacked his already folded clothes into the drawers, knowing that the closet was off limits. Using the hangers found in the closet, he hung his coats, knowing that he wasn't going to use them anytime soon. One of the plastic crates Dave packed along was used for his shoes, sliding them under the bed.

After that was done, Dave made his new bed, with the new bedding he bought the month previous.

As he finished setting up his pillows, he found a yellow smuppet Dirk somehow snuck into the box. Laughing a little bit, Dave tossed it onto the bed. It wasn't much of a bother now.

Another had his photography equipment, including his "darkroom" equipment. It wasn't really a darkroom, more of a dark cabinet. He always wanted to have a darkroom but since he couldn't have one, he always used a closet as one, moving all his clothes to the dresser.

Like he had back in Houston, Dave set up a darkroom in his closet. He liked using darkrooms. He altered his photography style from digital printing [A small HP printer] to old school development. It made him focus, despite the chemical's strong smell.

Like many people feel the need to go shopping for supplies they don't need at the moment, many times in the summer Dave had his brother take him to Staples or Wal-Mart to buy empty photo albums and blank printing paper. He had to be prepared. And shopping for supplies made him feel productive. And even though Dave always ended up using the darkroom most out of his printer, he still felt like the shopping was worth it. He knew he was going to use them someday. He just didn't know exactly when.

Which was the thrill of it. He had memories to look forward to making.

Hopefully, his roommate wouldn't mind the smell. It wasn't strong enough to stench the whole room, but you definitely could smell it when you were working with the pictures. Dave had his tools ready in a box, including gloves, bottles of chemicals, tongs and a plastic table cloth.

Just like in Houston.

The largest box had a foldable white plastic table [Folded in hamburger style, he reminded himself. Not hotdog. That was a disaster.] and his turntables and the rest of his DJ equipment, including a small speaker that was very loud when the settings were adjusted correctly, and two pairs of large headphones ["The professional kind," Dirk beamed as an fourteen year old Dave was gushing over them on Christmas morning.] and the organized mess of cables, each with their respective rubber bands and color coded organization.

The turntables were graciously given to him by Dirk as a birthday present when he turned 15. The speaker was from Dave's own hard work from when he had a small job at a diner one summer. He saw that speaker in the pawn shop one day and knew he had to get it. And working in that diner for a month and half was damn worth it.

 _Feeling so much nostalgia._

Dave set up the table first, then put the turntables and the rest of the equipment on it.

Luckily, it fit.

From the darkroom box, Dave got the piece of rope for his pictures and hung it over the area with his turntables. A bag of clips were in the closet, underneath the table.

Dave pulled back the curtain, letting the sunshine seep through.

It was almost like he was back home.

Except of course, there were no puppets lying around the room, no shitty swords and his window view was different. He couldn't hear the cars honking down the road, feel the immense Texan heat radiating through the window, effectively making his old room feel like a oven.

This was California now. Not Texas, but California.

Unlike Houston, there was AC in here, at a cool 72 degrees. The fan Dave had packed was in the corner, still unplugged. Maybe he'd find some use to it later.

Damn. There was Dave in his new room, in California. Away from Texas. Away from Houston.

Away from home.

Away from Dirk.

 _Dirk._

His brother wasn't in the other room down the hall. He wasn't randomly challenging to fights on the roof. He wasn't making him do parkour over piles of smuppets just to mess around with him.

Dirk was in Houston.

And Dave was in California.

He felt a pang of homesickness. Of course he'd feel homesick. And sad. It was his brother. He was raised by Dirk all his life, putting up with his weirdness and mind games. Dealing with the irony and whatnot. Years of tripping over piles and piles of smuppet plush and randomly fighting on the roof.

It was really weird.

But there was also times. Times when Dirk taught an eight year old Dave how to play baseball, still practicing with him during high school. Times Dirk and Dave played scrabble, laughing when Dirk lost. Times when Dave was confused to the brink of tears on algebra and pre-cal, Dirk stepping in to help him out, even if it meant making ridiculous puppet analogies that made sense with the math problem.

Then there was Dirk taking Dave to gigs and concerts. Even when Dave and Dirk got into an argument and Dave would go to his room, slam the door like the angsty teenager he was, Dirk would still have the patience to wait for him and talk things out. Dirk sliding a bottle of apple juice as a peace offering sometimes.

Then whenever Dave was upset and needed a break, Dirk would play baseball with him.

Dirk is a weird person. But he was still a good brother.

Even if it was for a few hours already, it was different not living with his brother. He didn't hear the random thuds or music coming from the other room, no noise. His apartment was too silent.

It was different, not having his parental figure since he could remember there.

But all birds have to leave the nest at one point. They had to grow and move on to their own lives. Dave had to do that. He knew it.

" _I believe in you."_

Dave already cried enough for a day. "Come on Dave, you're eighteen. You got this," Dave told himself before getting too homesick.

Dave laid down on the bed, feeling the new fabric of the blanket on his skin as he looked around his new room. It felt familiar, yet not so much.

It was going to take a while to adapt to all these changes.

But….he had things to look forward to. This was college. New faces, new places, new things to learn. New people to meet, new things to photograph. This was college.

Yeah. _This was college._

Dave has gotten this far in life; what was the point of it he backed out due to a few feelings of missing home?


End file.
